It just won’t die: Windows XP gets another six months

[Alpha]

Redmond (WA) – Microsoft has stepped up its effort to promote its Vista operating system, but Windows XP just isn’t going away. The company reportedly extended the OEM downgrade timeline once again: As of now, system builders can still offer Windows XP downgrades to their customers and will be able to do so until Vista’s second birthday.

 

Microsoft’s deadline for allowing OEMs to sell PCs with systems that are “downgraded” from Windows Vista to XP is still a moving target. Initially planned to expire on June 30 of this year, Microsoft at first granted an extension to July 31. However, OEMs are still selling the downgrade option (often for a premium) and, according to new reports, the deadline apparently has been officially extended for six more months to January 31, 2009. The information is based on one leaked email sent to an OEM.

 

The decision indicates that there is still substantial demand for Windows XP and demand for Vista and its features may not be quite as convincing as the Microsoft usually claims. However, it also raises questions about the firm’s recently launched $300 million Windows advertising campaign that is designed to push Vista sales and there are certainly reasons to believe that a user who now purchases a Windows XP PC is unlikely to ever upgrade to Windows Vista: Windows 7 is expected to arrive in early H2 2009.

 

As before, the XP downgrade is available from some OEMs with the purchase a PC with Windows Vista Business or Windows Vista Ultimate.

 

Recent market data showed that more than one third of new PC buyers choose to downgrade their Vista installations to Windows XP. Another research revealed that enterprise users, one of Microsoft's key markets, are even less inclined to dump XP for the newer operating system.

 

Source: http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/39594/140/

I wouldn't be surprised if Microsoft gave Windows XP another extension. Let's face it, Vista has been a complete flop. It doesn't matter how much advertising they do on television, it's going to take a long time for them to change the image of Vista from a negative to a positive.

 

In the meantime, most people will probably stick to Windows XP (sorry Bill). Or they'll buy a Mac solely because they are "so much easier than PC's".

[gavin19]

Hopefully Windows 7 will be a big improvement over Vista, though no doubt it will be another RAM hog. Why they are spending $300 million advertising Vista when they could just pump that money into W7 I don't know.

 

What I hated was the packaging of Vista with products that weren't up to the job of running it. A friend of mine bought a Dell laptop last year and was only offered Vista as an OS, and being none the wiser he said ok. Ultimately he ordered a low-end laptop, which is all he wanted, but Vista runs like glue on it. I have seen this so many times with people asking me why their new PC is running so slow, when their old one was perfectly fine with XP. Nine times out of ten it's because they have been lumbered with Vista on a low-end machine.

[echoman]

What I hated was the packaging of Vista with products that weren't up to the job of running it. A friend of mine bought a Dell laptop last year and was only offered Vista as an OS, and being none the wiser he said ok. Ultimately he ordered a low-end laptop, which is all he wanted, but Vista runs like glue on it. I have seen this so many times with people asking me why their new PC is running so slow, when their old one was perfectly fine with XP. Nine times out of ten it's because they have been lumbered with Vista on a low-end machine.

 

 

I get so many calls on that, its ridiculous. Everyone is doing that now and customers just order away not even knowing that their mid level machine is going to run like crap.

 

They should just take all the money from advertising like you said and pump it into the new OS. Vista has a bad wrap and wont be popular or profitable anytime soon. Extend Xp until their new OS is released and try again with that

[Kloplop321]

I just use linux, it does what I want, and no lag because of security hole cover ups like firewalls and virus protection

[Mooney]

+1 for running Linux.

[ken_cinder]

Installing things IS easier on Linux, provided you use packages. Hell even compiling yourself is but a command away, as long as makefiles are provided.

Not sure if you can use Illustrator or Photoshop in WINE, but GIMP can do everything Photochop can and more.......so I think that's a non issue.

 

The ONLY reason I haven't switched to Linux, is games. Everything else is better on Linux, PERIOD.

[Weirdy]

/.configure && make && make install

 

it's not that hard, folks

 

only problem you'll have would probably be with dependencies

 

hell, some developers even include a script with a gtk dialog to help install

[gavin19]

Everything else is better on Linux, PERIOD.

 

I don't know about anything else because I haven't used Linux in a year or so, but the one area which it seriously lags behind Windows is for video/audio editing/manipulation. By that I mean like high-end DVD authoring programs, converting from x format to y format etc. Windows has 100s of these sort of apps, Linux does not.

[ken_cinder]

I don't use any 1 click job AV editing software on Windows, so it's a non issue for me. AVIDemux is great on Linux, and does more than my favorite Windows app Virtualdub. I like to get my hands dirty, which is why I approve of Linux..........if you prefer to stay out of the proverbial "kitchen" then Linux is not for you.

 

If you look, you will find equivalent or better software in most cases.

The one thing I've found to be seriously lacking, are IM programs. Sure there are many, that support the major protocols, but they just plain suck! They're either lacking in the features department, but get the basic job done solidly........or the other way around.

[Weirdy]

linux is bad for people who don't want to learn

[emsley]

Long live XP I say.

It's been the best damned OS ever.

I got vista on my rig and I dont like it, I said it was just another "millenium." And it looks like my idea has been confirmed.

When XP came out every body hated it now everybody swears by it.

I would probably have had nothing bad to say about Vista but when I got my PC delivered the USB ports hardly detected anything and it turned out I needed a simple regestry fix.

 

Sadly not been able to use around 50% Of the stuff I plugged into my USB ports when i first got vista really gave me sour grapes hell i couldnt even plug in microsofts own mouse i had to go through the green jack instead.

 

LONG LIVE XP!